Someone gave Don the wrong notes for his speech (at Teck) so he just kind of talked and did some Q/A too - excellent, inspiring talk, he's a real humanitarian and enviro sort of guy while also being pro-mining of course.

In short, he's very bullish on the global macro trend and has extremely close relationships with Chinese companies and government officials. They use about 41% of global copper while the U.S. is only 6-7% now ... Don is really not too worried about a global slowdown, even though it could happen. This positive growth should be good for BC, and one of the questioners asked about prospects and investing here. Don is very pro-Canada and say the political issue is bigger than ever right now making Canada a great place (big for his mentor Dr. Keevil Jr too, he said). My take from the tone and the rest of the speech, is that they are planning on spending in BC. Don also said that even if Nexen doesn't go through, investment from China is not just going to dry up like some say. Investment will continue and it is already on lots of levels (anyone ever research Teck's presence in China btw? Been there for years).

We may well have Chinese partners (like CIC in Teck already) to help fund our mine ... or "their" mine, whatever. 100's of students there tonight at the CIM dinner, receiving awards and supporting the industry. Very positive, and Don and Jay Collins looked pretty chatty with each other up at the front. Wouldn't doubt they know each other by how they were acting. Whether they got to CUU or not in their dinner discussions who knows, but Vancouver is kind of a small town-city and everyone knows everyone in the industry it seems. Should be no problem for Teck to do thorough due diligence and make up their mind ... once the long-awaited BFS arrives.